Family Research Institute

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The Family Research Institute (FRI) is an American non-profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado which states that it has "...one overriding mission: to generate empirical research on issues that threaten the traditional family, particularly homosexuality, AIDS, sexual social policy, and drug abuse." ^[1] FRI is part of a movement of small, often faith-based organizations (sometimes called the Christian Right) which seek to influence the political debate in the United States. They seek "...to restore a world where marriage is upheld and honored, where children are nurtured and protected, and where homosexuality is not taught and accepted, but instead is discouraged and rejected at every level." ^[1]

FRI's is run by Paul Cameron, who earned his doctorate in psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1966. Dr. Cameron founded the Institute for the Scientific Investigation of Sexuality in 1982, and this institute later became FRI. ^[2] Considerable controversy surrounds Dr. Cameron and his research.^[3] The American Psychological Association (APA) dropped Cameron from its membership on December 2, 1983 for lack of cooperation in an inquiry into his research methods.^[4] However, Dr. Cameron maintains he had already resigned from the APA before they dropped him from membership.^[5]^[6]

The Boston Globe reported that FRI's 2005 budget was less than $200,000.^[2] The FRI website lists only one scientist on staff, apart from Paul Cameron, Dr. Kirk Cameron.^[1]